


it started with a kiss (how did we end up like this?)

by teeceecee



Series: Blueprints and Watercolors [3]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst and Feels, College, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Heartbreak, Interns & Internships, References to Depression, Soul Bond, Soul Sex, Unresolved Romantic Tension, this hurted, yeet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 23:07:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17692886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teeceecee/pseuds/teeceecee
Summary: Tadashi broke off from that train of thought. He couldn’t be falling for her. The words of the scientific journal echoed loudly in his head, a stark reminder to how flawed his affections were for her.‘If the affections are unreturned, the dejected mate will turn to starvation as a mode of coping and punishment, similar to the canis lupus, a homosapien under the influence of the Soul Bond will act very much like their canine counterpart -- pining for their lost mate by entering a state of depression and abjection of food…’orTadashi Soul-Bonds with someone he doesn't expect to, and his stubbornness has dire consequences for the both of them.





	it started with a kiss (how did we end up like this?)

**Author's Note:**

> dang the last time I legit wrote about BH6 was in 2015. it's been almost 4 years now and I had this sitting around. 
> 
> if there are any older readers of this series, the characters would be familiar to you. however, this work can be read on its own skrrt skrrt (ᵈᵒᵉˢ ᵃⁿʸᵒⁿᵉ ᵉᵛᵉⁿ ʳᵉᵃᵈ ᵇʰ⁶ ᶠᵃⁿ ᶠᶦᶜᵗᶦᵒⁿ ᵃⁿʸᵐᵒʳᵉˀˀ)

“Wait, so you and ramen girl didn’t hook up?” Honey asked, the inflection of disappointment obvious in her tone. Her long thin fingers were curled together into themselves, supporting her chin and ridiculous pout.

Tadashi spared a look around the cafe, rolling his eyes in exasperation. “Wow Honey, could you be a little more louder? I don’t think the Queen of England heard you.”

“Don’t be silly,” she chirped, blue eyes glittering with mirth. “We all the real Queen is somewhere in a bunk. Her doppleganger won’t do anything.”

He laughed at her words, and Honey’s lips curled into a smile. 

Sunlight slanted through the blinds, breaking over their table and casting shadows over their latte cups; throwing flecks of gold in Honey’s green eyes and warming his fingers. It was a busy Saturday, the atmosphere of the cafe bustling as a light waltz could be heard over the radio, mingling with the chatter of college students discussing their assignments and a group of girls giggling, heads huddled together as one of them told an animated story. 

Tadashi admired this one blonde from the corner of his eye. She had gorgeous freckled skin and her shoulders were curved attractively under her light summer blouse. Honey caught him staring and coughed. “Really subtle, ‘Dashi. I really think you need to like, get laid.”

“Thank goodness Hiro isn’t here to listen to this,” he muttered, big brother instincts coming to play. He never wanted Hiro to see him discussing about girls like this. Tadashi wanted his brother to grow up with a healthy respect for women. The blonde adjusted her hair, letting it fall naturally over her shoulder, making his throat run dry. He did love good shoulders on women. There was a strange twitch in his system and he anticipated that he would imprint on her; that this beautiful stranger would be his Soul Bond. The feeling passed, and he realized that the spark no longer held, dulling deep in his gut. He sighed. 

Honey noticed and turned the topic around, knowing how worried he was about his impending presenting. 

“How’s the internship going?” 

Tadashi kept his expression neutral, but his friend noticed the flicker of annoyance in the darkening of his eyes. 

“What’s going on?” Honey asked, genuinely concerned.

Tadashi was a fighter, and he had the will of a motivational speaker. There was a problem at his internship of one week. Generally, he loved the atmosphere at Kenka Hospital where they took him under the research and development team. However, working at the R&D meant he was supposed to be around a certain dark-haired woman whom he would rather keep his distance from.

He sighed. “You know about this one girl that I mentioned to you about?”

“Vaguely. Remind me again?”

“Her name’s Ayako and she works with the creative board. She’s an intern as well.”

Honey’s eyes widened, and her mouth formed into a small ‘O’. “Wait, I thought you wouldn’t have to see her after that...that first time.”

Tadashi’s mouth settled into a hard grimace. He remembered the first time, alright. He was an easy going guy, and held that reputation well in the San Fransokyo’s Institute of Technology, known for his smiles and willingness to help. He fell into his mind’s eye, on the night when he met Ayako Sorokin and knew what it was like to feel irritation at its most potent form.

A rough day could be seen from the way how he held his posture, his thoughts wired on the hot meal Aunt Cass had prepared for him back at the cafe slash home, and the blueprints he had yet to finalize before his project review with Callaghan, due the week after that. The hallways were normally filled with nurses conducting their final check up before the lights go off and the night settled in. He had been slugging along, bag strapped on one shoulder, and arm swinging by his side.

Someone ran into him and a scalding hot liquid poured all over his arm. A tiny squeak and a huff caught his attention and he saw a petite young woman, clad head to toe in black, scowling at him.

“I’m sorry–”

“What the heck is wrong with you?” she demanded, her foul mood throwing him off guard.

“E-excuse me?”

She waved at the mess of papers on the ground, along with the huge coffee patch staining the drawings and blueprints, spreading like a plague over its immaculate surfaces. It felt like someone had punched his gut, and he looked up, expecting her to feel the same way, but she glared at him.

“I’m...I’m really–”

“I spent twenty three hours on those drawings. Twenty three hours! Could you have maybe - I don’t know - watch your - heck, even keep your head up…” she trailed off, fuming, and picked up her drawings. Tadashi, remembering his manners, bent down to help her, but she brushed him off. 

“Please don’t,” she said, and the hint of desperation in her tone made him stop. “I have to submit this in two hours, and I need to see if these can be salvaged.”

In a flash, this strange stranger gathered her things off the floor and stormed down the hallway, leaving him clutching onto the memory of her glare and how his stomach churned, as if he was standing in the middle of a storm, lost as to which direction he should take. He dropped his hand and walked back to his moped, thoughts of the meeting swirling in his head. Tadashi vowed he would find her tomorrow and make it up to her, possibly bringing her a fresh cup of coffee. 

It was purely out of his manners, but he never saw that girl again. Until two days ago. 

“Oh,” Honey drawled in realization. “Don’t tell me; you finally met Ayako after the incident.”

“I did,” Tadashi said with a groan. “And it went horribly. Trust me.”

“What happened?” Honey asked, invested in the story. She leaned forward, eyes shining, yearning to hear the rest.

“Well, at first, she didn’t seem to recognize me, but when she did…” Tadashi trailed off, remembering the instant dislike on Ayako’s face. 

“Oh, it’s you,” she said, unsure of how to react. 

Tadashi wanted to apologize, but he might as well have curled up his apologies and toss it out the window as she turned and scampered away, as if she was shy to be seen with him. Cheeks burning, and feeling suitably humiliated, Tadashi walked away, sitting in the meeting and taking down notes while she sat opposite of him, the both of them having been instructed by their bosses to work together on the latest project: a new logo for the pediatrician section due next week in time for World Children’s Day. 

He had no idea why his boss, a Mr. Eishi, asked him to work alongside the creative department, but he suspected it would be because he didn’t have to. The right-mind enabled weren’t well known for their impeccable timing, as illustrated by how Ayako was dragging on submitting the designs for him, as if to make him intentionally irritated. 

Honey blinked. “Wow. Maybe she was just shy after her outburst?” 

Tadashi shook his head. “I know when someone’s shy. She’s just full out hostile.”

“Maybe she’s your Soul Bond?” she suggested innocently. 

He wasn’t one to react dramatically; that was more of Hiro’s forte, but Tadashi rolled his eyes and shook his head vehemently. “Nope. Absolutely not. Slap me if that happens. I would rather eat my own foot than be with her. She’s a nightmare.”

“You’ve met her, like what-? Two times, and you’re already judging her. Maybe she wants to be friends, but you just never gave her the chance. I mean, she really was on a tight deadline and artists’ don’t work well under pressure. Trust me, Fred is exactly like that.”

At the mention of Fred and Soul Bonding, Tadashi tried not to wince. That was another mountain on his already heaving plate. He was already twenty one and still had not presented, as was the custom of their society. Honey had presented two months ago and bonded with Fred, both of them betas. In this case, betas were known for their charismatic charm and they complemented each other perfectly in this sense. Alphas were known to be caring, but verging on the edge of domineering if not controlled, and with the only ability to procreate. Omegas were the last on the rung of society and were generally people pleasers who tended overwork themselves. They were also the only ones who could conceive. 

Honey still hadn’t had the Talk with Fred where they both decide what to do should the inevitable arise and they were tasked with the responsibility to procreate. The tiny society of San Fransokyo was one of the few to evolve along with the population crisis a hundred years ago, where birth rates were contained and this system of hormonal classification was placed as a way to ensure the continuation of their society. They called it Soul Bonding, but Tadashi called it a contract in the form of being a slave to evolution. He was one of the few who was against the idea of a body already deciding who the Soul Bond should be, and not the heart.

He was deathly worried about Soul Bonding as he didn’t know who his future partner would be and how would they be like. Falling in love was one thing, but being bonded to a person for life was another playing field altogether. 

“How is Fred, by the way?” Tadashi asked, stirring his cup of coffee, half listening in and half keeping his attention on the blonde girl, who eventually left with her friends. Thinking of his internship and Ayako had soured his mood, and Honey noticed, trying to cajole him by offering him her brownie. 

“I can smell your resentment from here,” she said, partly in jest. One of the only things he found interesting in this social phenomena was the increase in the sense of smell that occured for a newly presented member to seek out their mate. 

Honey said that she knew Fred from his scent; glossy comic pages and pizza with an underlying hint of patchouli that captured her interest immediately. Tadashi just hoped that whoever he imprinted upon wouldn’t smell like greasy pizza. 

“I’m just worried,” he said, playing with the froth atop his cup. “I turn twenty one tomorrow and I still don’t know who my future Soul Bond would be.”

“Hey- just be glad it’s not some random stranger, okay? It should be someone you already know and have an established connection with. Just like Fred and I. You’ll find yours.”

He smiled at her attempts in comforting him. “Okay. I’ll take your word for it.”

“You know, I always thought you would be an Alpha,” Honey said, shaking out her blonde highlighted hair. “You have that vibe.”

Tadashi laughed at his best friend’s observations and hoped that it was true. Call him traditional, but Tadashi always wanted a family of his own. 

He strayed the conversation back to safer waters as he spoke about Honey’s job search and how Callaghan was advising her against building a solar powered hydrator when there was already a patented blueprint for it by another company. Tadashi tried not to sink deep into his thoughts about work the next day, on his birthday, and hoped that he wouldn’t present at work itself. That would be hard to explain to his bosses. 

Minutes ticked away on the ornate clock hung on the wall, giving off the space a vintage vibe as the sun simmered down to a bearable evening cool and Tadashi decided to return back home. He bid Honey goodbye and made his way back on his rickety moped, decidedly lighter than when he woke up this morning. Speaking with his best friend had a way to make him forget his worries. Honey was sunshine personified and he was glad to have met her during freshman year. She was the special type of people in his life he let see the inner workings of his mind, sometimes contrasting jarringly with his public image.

No one would suspect that Tadashi Hamada, Dean's List Sweetheart, the star of San Fransokyo, and Callaghan’s prodigy to have worries such as to who he would imprint on. People just expected him to already have a plan, and he was hard-pressed to shake their perception.

Aunt Cass was cooking something that wafted down the halls when he opened the door, sending the aroma of vanilla and pears to greet him. He inhaled appreciatively and stepped into the kitchen where she was doling out the filling for the strudel she was just about to place in the oven.

“Tadashi! Hi! How was your day?”

“It was great, Aunt Cass,” he said, sitting at the table as she glanced fondly over at him, brushing the top of the pastry with some egg wash with a brush whose bristles were protruding haphazardly. There was a smudge of flour on her face and a hastily brushed spot on her dark, knee-length jeans.

“Hiro’s upstairs on the computer. Could you let him know that dinner will be ready in about half an hour and to help set the table? It would be his turn since it’s your birthday tomorrow.” She beamed at him, looking so much like his mother that for a second, Tadashi’s gut twisted in abject longing. Aunt Cass had adopted him and Hiro ten years ago, after the death of their parents in a car crash, and single-handedly raised them to succession. He remembered from a young age having to be the parent he didn’t have for Hiro’s sake, as the young boy had the least memories of their Ma and Pa, Hiro being only two when they passed on. 

“I’ll go get him,” he said, standing up and walking over to the stairs. Aunt Cass nodded, and went back to her job, humming softly under his breath. Today seemed to be an especially introspective day, and Tadashi wondered if it was his impending birthday that brought this onslaught of thoughts. 

He found Hiro sitting on the chair by the computer, engrossed on a new game which he promptly shut off when he saw his brother entering in the room. “T-Tadashi! You’re home early.”

“What? Didn’t expect me to barge in and catch you betting again?” 

Hiro scowled, folding his arms. “It’s none of your business.”

“Oh, I hope it won’t be,” Tadashi said, not wanting to get into his brother’s bad habit of betting on illegal robot fights. He had tried to warn Hiro that a career like that would lead to him being broke for life, depending on Aunt Cass for gummy bear money even when he turned forty and probably ending up with one too many broken bones. But still, Hiro never listened. 

“Aunt Cass wants you to set the table later when she’s done. She says it’s your turn.” He couldn’t resist adding, “because it’s my birthday tomorrow.”

“So? It’s only tomorrow,” Hiro said with a scowl, though he reluctantly got up, and ambled down the steps. With his brother out of the room, Tadashi could block out his thoughts and rest for a while, until Aunt Cass called him down for a dinner of baked chicken and pear strudel. 

He celebrated with his tiny family and drifted back upstairs to get ready for work, praying that Ayako would have mercy on him and understand that he couldn’t get yelled by Eishi on his birthday of all days. He worshipped the older man and would be sullen if something went wrong tomorrow. He reasoned that if Ayako wasn’t going to help him, he wouldn’t owe it to her to be nice. Tadashi was going to show her that she couldn’t just walk all over him, if it was the last thing he did before he fell asleep, eyes heavy and heart strung as his full stomach lulled him closer into the warm darkness.

Tadashi awoke within the groggy boundaries of early morning, the half light spilling through his windows as a light chill entered his bones. He felt cold, too cold and started shivering, coughing when his lungs refused to cooperate, the shudders jolting him to his core and shaking him from his slumber. He sat up, staring at the water stain on the opposite wall as he gained full consciousness, the cold turning into a bristling heat that ran up and down his arm, as the shivers reached his groin, and he realized what was happening a second too late.


End file.
